Darrin Drader said:
I got the feeling when I was preparing to run Shadowfell, and started tweaking things to work better for how I DM. I kept tweaking and putting notes in, and soon found my Keep on the Shadowfell had deeper story, intrigue and tons of cool twists and that was without the corebooks available. As I ran it, the game was very different at first and then everything clicked about the 3rd-4th encounter. Suddenly, I saw the elegant feel and design behind it all, the DMing became more and more simple to do and more and more creative. I started using the tools in the module to really do what I want and without any effort. It was liberating.
While this was happening, combat was intense. The PCs nearly died a few times. We started seeing the small touches with healing surges representing life force, and being eaten up with spells and second wind. Action points being earned when the part pushes through without a rest and are heroic. The movement and tactical options in combat was edge of the table action. The monster had complicated powers and tactics but were all very easy as a DM to run. All of this came together and suddenly I felt like I rediscovered the heart of D&D.
All the changes in the planes, monster lore, tying the skills and powers into a coherent system, the iconic elements all there and well defined. This is the first time D&D has truely been D&D and not a generic fantasy role playing game. Everything in these books is the heart and soul of D&D boiled down and streamlined into a easy to use and very progressive role playing system driven by story, adventure, action and mysteries and dark locales to explore.
That the new edition rekindles this magic is my choice for this thread.
